Basket and crate tool



March 31, 1959 I J. PEACOCK 2,879,807

BASKET AND CRATE TOOL Filed' July 28, 1955 mmnnmnannnnnnn'. I w M l INVENTOR fame? .les e'r .Peaeacl;

BY M, @QZJQ wand/Ma,

' ATTORNEYS UnitCd S ates Patetit'C) "3 cc BASKET AND CRATE TOOL James LesterPeacoc'k, Jacksonville, Tex.

Application July '28, 1955, SerialNo. 524,989

1' Claim. (Cl. 140- 123) This invention relatesto a-tool applicable to tightening the covers .of baskets, crates and like ,packaging containers, and for interengaging'the securing devices thereof.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a tool which can be employed for engaging basket and crate parts, and for tightening the covers thereof and interengaging the securing devices while the covers are held tight.

Another feature is the provision of a tool having few and simple parts, and which can be operated by one hand.

A further feature is the provision of a tool which is kept ready for use, which can be placed in position. by one hand and assisted by the other hand upon the package being closed in procuring a tight covering, and which can be operated by a single hand to effect interengagement of the package securing devices.

With these and other features as objects in view, an illustrative form of practice is shown on the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tool according to this invention.

Figure 2 is an upright section, substantially on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section, substantially on line 33 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a view, on a smaller scale, showing the tool as first applied to a crate and its cover, with a cover loop partly in section.

Figure 5 is a view like Figure 4, but with the crate and cover drawn down.

Figure 6 is a view like Figures 4 and 5, but with the tool in position after operation for locking the crate and cover securing devices.

Figure 7 is a view like that of Fig. 6, but with the tool in position after operation for locking a basket cover on a basket; the basket and cover parts being in section.

In the drawings, the tool has a stem 16 with an upper handle portion 11 which in the illustrated form is a piece extending at a right angle so that the stem and upper handle portion provide an L-shaped member, with the parts firmly secured together. A sleeve 12 likewise has a handle portion 13 firmly secured thereto, and .il lustratively located below and parallel to the upper portion 11, therewith forming a second L-shaped member. The stem is freely slidable in the sleeve 12 for a distance determined by the engagement of a stop 14 on the stem, with the ends of a slot 15 in the sleeve 12: the stop and the slot walls also assure the stem and sleeve against relative rotation about their axis. A coil spring 16 surrounds the stem 10 and bears at the upper end against the upper handle 11 and at the lower end against the assembly of the sleeve 12 and the lower handle 13; to guard against pinching the hand, it is preferred to have the bore at the upper end of sleeve 12 enlarged as at 18 to receive the lower end of the spring.

The sleeve 12 is provided at its bottom with a hook 17 secured fixedly thereto and illustratively extending straddling the wire.

2,879,807 Patented Mar. 31, 1959 below the lower end of the sleeve. The lower end of the stem has a wire straddling portion, illustratively the laterally and downwardly extending fingers 19,20.

When ready for use, the tool is in the condition shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the spring 16 holding the upper and lower handles 11, 13 apart at a distance for convenient gripping in the hand, with fingers beneath the handle 13 and the palm and thumb against the handle 11. The hook 17 and the bifurcation .19, 20 are close together. The tool can be employed as shown in Figs. 4 to 6.

A container, illustratively the crate B, is filled and its cover C brought toward closed position: with "bulk loads such as spinach, the cover does .not .go to fully closed position. Baskets, crates, etc. are customarily made with looped securing devices, which are formed from wire and attached to the side walls and covers. The loop 30 attached to the side wall extends above the edge of the cover; and the loop 31 attached to the cover projects beyond the side wall. In bringingthe cover to the position shown in Fig. 4, the side wall loop 30 is sprung away so that it can thereafter be engaged around the cover loop 31.

The operator then places 'the lower end of the stem .10 upon the cover loop 31, Fig. 4., with the fingers 19, 20, The hook 17 is engaged within the side wall loop 30. The operator then squeezes the handles 11, 13 together wherewith the bifurcation 19, .20 is forced downward relative to the hook 17: pressure of the other hand, as of the foot, can be applied to the cover. The cover loop 31 is thus bent relatively downward, Fig. 5, about the edge of the cover, with reaction against the side wall loop 30; and the cover closes. The operator then swings the tool, in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6, about the cover loop 31 as a fulcrum, thereby bending the side wall loop so that it engages as a book through the cover loop 31. During this swinging movement, the forces acting on the cover loop bend it toward the side wall, but the action of the tool upon the cover loop draws the wire thereof so that, as the hook bend progresses, the securing devices are drawn tighter and tighter, and the cover is brought down if further movement is possible. The lever ratio between the length of the tool from the fingers 19, 20 to the upper handle 11, and the distance from the fingers to the hook 17, enable great force to be exerted.

When the operator relaxes his fingers, the spring 16 moves the handles 11, 13 apart again, and the hook 17 is released. Upon removing the tool, a blow against the downwardly bent end of the side wall loop 30 moves it against the side wall, without release of the securing devices.

A like operation can be employed with baskets or other devices having interengaging loops. In Fig. 7, a. part of a basket is shown with usual side wall strips 40 of veneer secured between the top inner and outer hoops 41, 42 by staples 43, and having the basket loop 30a formed in usual fashion and passing through the basket side wall, with the ends clinched. The basket cover has the cover slats 44 of veneer, secured to the cover hoop 45 as by staples 46. The cover loop 31a is also illustrated with its ends passing through the cover and clinched against the inner surface thereof. In the illustrated form, one of the staples 46 serves to detain a leg of the cover loop. The basket can be filled in the usual way, and the cover applied with the cover loop 31a engaged around the upstanding basket loop 30a, whereupon the tool can be engaged as in Fig. 4 and initial pressure applied as described for Fig. 5. The tool is then rocked downward as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6, for locking the loops together and tightening the cover. It will be noted that the operation can be performed 3 even with the usual high loading employed in basket packing spinach and like materials, so long as the book 17 can be engaged with the. basket loop and the bifurcation 19, 20 seated on the bight of the cover loop. A blow upon the folded loops 30a, 31a will set them from the position of Fig. 6 into engagement with the basket side wall.

It will be understood that crates, baskets, etc., usually have two or more sets of such interengaging loops: and that the tool is effective at each set to efiect interlocking of the loops and tightening of the covers upon the crate, basket, etc., body.

The illustrated form of the invention is not restrictive,

-' and it can be practiced in many ways within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A tool for tightening the covers of baskets, crates and like packaging containers having interengageable loops on the container body and cover, comprising a stem member having a stem portion and a transversely projecting handle portion normal to the stem in one direction and at one end thereof, a sleeve member having a sleeve portion within which the said stern portion can guidedly slide and itself having a transversely extending handle portion normal to the sleeve in said one direction and at the end adjacent the handle portion of the stem member, said sleeve portion having a longitudinal slot and said stern portion having a stop piece thereon projecting into and movable along the slot during relative longitudinal movements of the stem and sleeve members one another for grasping by the operators hand, said stem portion having at its other end a bifurcation for engaging upon the cover loop, said sleeve portion having at its other end a hook for engaging within the container body loop, said sleeve member having a recess surrounding the stem portion, and a coil spring located around the stem portion with one end engaged with the handle portion of the stem member and the other end seated in said recess and acting for separating the said handle portions, whereby when the tool is engaged withthe inter-engaged cover and container body loops the operator can move the cover toward the container body by squeezing the handle portions toward one another and can bend the container body loop into hooked engagement with the cover loop while maintaining the cover and container body under compression relative to one another by rotating the tool outwardly and downwardly from said container body and cover.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 761,151 Cummings May 31, 1904 987,238 Kersten Mar. 21,1911 1,357,012 Tweto Oct. 26, I920 1,724,435 Studwell Aug. 13, 1929 1,851,126 Mikkelsen Mar. 29, 1932 2,160,652 Feigh May 30, 1939 2,188,161 Rosenmund Jan. 23, 1940 2,459,491 Boyd et al. Jan. 18, 1949 FOREIQN PATENTS 371,151 Great Britain Apr. 28, .1932 

